Bonds of Friendship
by niftysweet
Summary: Harry is framed for murdering Hermione and is no longer the Golden Boy of the wizarding world but that does not mean that he is alone. In Azkaban, a place of torment, his only friend, and the only one who believes in him,saves him. NOT Slash! Please RR!


Disclaimer for entire story: I own nothing of Harry Potter and am making no money off of this.

A/N: Please enjoy this and then tell me what you think. Oh, and I am looking for a good beta who can work on content and such with me more than grammar but would be able to point out the occasional grammar area as well. If you are interested please either put it in your review or e-mail me.

Harry was in a complete fog. Everywhere he looked were faces of hatred. What was wrong? What had happened? A booming voice resounded around the room which Harry just realized was a wizarding court room.

"Harry James Potter, how do you plead to the murder of Hermione Jane Granger?" Fudge's sadistic voice asked.

Harry's mouth fell open in shock. Hermione? Where was Hermione? She wasn't dead, was she? He was being held on trial for murdering her? He was so confused. Nothing was making sense. Hermione was his best friend, he would never harm her, never.

But Harry arguing that he would never in a million years touch a hair on the bright witch's head held no sway against the high paid lawyers who came out and put forth supposed evidence of motives and theories and 'proof' that it was Harry.

Apparently, Harry was jealous of Hermione and wanted her out of the way so that he could have the spot light to himself.

Ludicrous.

The thought had never even briefly flitted across his mind, much less been festering there for years. The angry bystanders did not seem to believe in his innocence, though, and neither did the jury when he was sentenced to twenty years in Azkaban.

Harry paled considerably at that thought, he probably wouldn't last twenty minutes.

Auror's grabbed Harry under his arms and dragged him forcibly out of the room. So what if it only strengthened these fool's beliefs that he was guilty, he was already convicted and there was no way that he would ever voluntarily walk into his personal Hell-on-Earth.

Outside of the court room Harry was blinded by flashing lights and people shouting for any last comments before he was dragged off to Azkaban. Harry refused to say anything, he would not give into their twisted games.

The reporter's shouted suddenly ended though, and Harry looked up in confusion. He suddenly saw a sight that frightened him: a furious Ron Weasley. Ron strode past the excited reporters who were anxiously writing out some dramatic version of the events. He stopped directly in front of Harry and turned around.

"You all disgust me," he said in a deadly calm voice, "Harry Potter has done nothing but protect you fools over and over again. He would never harm in any way, much less murder his best friend. I will never believe it of him. Harry, I believe in you." With that, Ron did something that Harry did not think his macho best friend would ever do. Ron hugged him in public amid a hundred flashes of cameras.

But more than that, Harry now had something that nobody would ever be able to take from him. He was going to the dementors, and that terrified him, but he now had the faith of his best friend and Harry would gladly go to Azkaban knowing that Ron would never abandon him.

---

One year and twenty-six days into Harry's imprisonment, Harry Potter was a changed man. He knew that the world was getting worse in his absence, thanks to Voldemort, but Harry really couldn't find himself to care all that much. The world had turned their backs on Harry, and slowly Harry had felt that he was turning his back to the world. He would never join Voldemort, but why would he help people who sent him to be tortured twenty-four hours a day for the next twenty years.

The only one who he still cared about was Ron. Even the thought of Ron gave Harry a warm feeling that he did not usually have with the dementor's constantly around.

The day was just a normal one for him. Gruel. Screams. Torture. Gruel. Torture. Nightmares. Then you wake up and start all over. Not what he thought he would be doing when he was younger.

Harry's head perked up, though, when he saw a shadow move. Of course, it could just be his imagination. After all, the dementors tended to cause hallucinations as well. But for some reason Harry didn't think that this was a hallucination. He was proved right when the shadow grew. Then, Harry changed his mind. There was no way. For, standing in front of him was his only friend, Ron Weasley.

A/N: Thanks for reading, please tell me what you think of it!


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